Indominous Origins
by bellamysgirl
Summary: 19 years after the first Jurassic Park, Maddie and Kit find themselves deserted on a strange island after their plane crashed on it's way home from Jurassic World. The survivors split into two groups, both with a different idea of rescue. After people mysteriously start disappearing, their plan to be rescued turns into a plan for survival.
1. Prologue: Kit

Not one drop of the Indominus Rex is left. But I'm not surprised. The remains of two raptors were dumped into the Mosasaurus tank, not too long ago. From what I'm told, he took care of Indominus also. And here I thought creating sea monsters was a bad idea. But they ended up taking care of the even badder idea. The sun's already been up for a few hours as I walk through the deserted park. Everyone was evacuated last night. Every once in a while a pterodactyl will fly over, ignoring me and moving on. They should've known this would happen again. In fact they did know. I told them Indominus wasn't safe, that she'd get out. But they wouldn't listen.

But when you think about it, neither would I. The whole reason I came to this darn island in the first place was to prove my father wrong. And up until now he was. Now we're both wrong. I made my way to the Visitor Center, or what was left. At the top of the stairs I stopped and turned around. Disaster was all I saw. A loud sound in the distance shook me from my thoughts. It's the Tyrannosaurus Rex. He's more than happy to have his island back.

Everywhere I go, "what now?" seems to be the only words on everyone's lips. And it's a good question… for them. But me? No, I know what I'm doing next. My plans for the future did not include almost being eaten by a dinosaur. But I'm afraid that's almost exactly what happened. Like my father, I didn't come looking for this life, it came to me. But since I know what those jerks plan to do with the Indominus embryos they stole, turning away now seems wrong. Which is why I'm not. My new mission is to find and then stop them.

My friend bellows again. This time I savor it. The little kid inside of me is saying, "That will never get old." But now all I hear is a warning followed by the sudden urge to run.


	2. Chapter 1: Maddie

**3 Years Before Jurassic World…**

A whole year. That's how long I've been waiting for this trip. Of course, I'm taking it with my journalism class. But it's exciting none of the less. I pulled my duffel bag strap higher on my shoulder, trying to ignore Johnny and Brock's argument over who would win in a fight—superman or batman. In a time like this, I'd just send a text to my friend Jen. But she's off on her own expedition, taking the summer trip to Haiti. _Take journalism, Maddie. It'll be so much fun, and you'll meet so many new people_. Right. I've only met a small handful of other students in the class.

And not to mention I only have fun when I get to actually go somewhere. Mr. Blac, the journalism teacher, tells Johnny and Brock to quiet down and wait in line patiently. Mr. Blac stepped up to the woman taking tickets and handed her his plane ticket. After him, Brittany, our resident class diva, hands in her ticket.

Mr. Blac waits for all of us to hand in our tickets before continuing into the plane. I don't necessarily hate planes. But I don't like them either. I read through my ticket to find my seat, and followed the seat numbers. Thankfully, it seems I'm sitting alone. I shoved my duffel bag into the overhead storage—only after taking out a few accentual items—and slid into my seat, next to the window. As the flight attendant said a few words over the speaker, I flicked open the notebook I'd designated my 'Journalism Book'. It was filled with all of my articles and news pieces for class.

I had everything backed up on a laptop I'd been given for the class. But I preferred writing things out by hand. "Passengers, please buckle your seatbelts and put your trays in the upright position," the attendant said, over the speakers. I clasped my belt over my lap. The last time I was on a plane, I was going back home for mom's funeral.

It was two years ago, but it's still burned in the back of my mind. As if it happened just yesterday. I can recall the feeling that overtook me when I stood in front of her headstone. After that, I hardly went back home for vacation or for holidays. I hate myself for that. I haven't seen my dad since thanksgiving, last year. Just then, someone sat in the seat beside me, closest to the aisle.

I inwardly sighed and glanced up. Mr. Blac clipped on his seat belt across his lap with a sigh. "Everything okay?" I asked. He nods with a disgruntled expression. "Yes. But it would be better had the school sent a babysitter along," he said. I chuckled and he sighed again. I turned back to my notebook, turning the pages of old stories.

The flight was short lived. After landing, Mr. Blac started directing all of us journalism kids to just outside the plane. I grappled with my duffel for a minute, but it eventually came free from the overhead. I pulled it onto my shoulder and followed the flow of traffic out to the group. "Alright, is everyone here?" Mr. Blac looked over our tiny group, then nodded. "Okay. Everyone follow me." Our group consists of five students and one teacher. Johnny, Brock, Brittany, and the oddly nicknamed Pepto, are all students.

I'm not really close with any of them, but they were the only ones that volunteered for the trip. Oh yeah, the trip. This year, the journalism class has elected to go to Isla Nublar for a group story on the new Jurassic World theme park. Technically it isn't new, but you get the gist. After a quick bus ride, our group is ready to board the fairy that will take us to the island, where well be staying for the weekend. As we walked up the ramp to board, Mr. Blac started his annual trip monologue. Telling us what and where we're allowed to do and go.

"You can go as you wish, but always keep your cell phones on and charged, and off of vibrate. Make sure I know where you are going before you go there. Do not leave the hotel after hours…"

He continued his speech until the boat was almost fully boarded. Our group was crammed in like sardines on the far left side of the boat. Just barely over Mr. Blac's speech and the rustle and bustle of excited tourists, I heard Johnny and Brock's conversation. "Dude, who do you think would win if a T-Rex and a Spinosaurus got into a fight?" Johnny asked.

"Probably the T-Rex," Brock answered. "'Cause it's got really big teeth and stuff?" As the boat began departing, I sighed and moved over next to them. "My money's on the Spinosaurus," I said. They looked at me sideways for a second. Then Brock asked, "Why?" I took in a deep breath. Then answered. "Well, not only is the Spinosaurus bigger, but, in my opinion, he's smarter," I said. Johnny nodded, like he got it. But Brock paused, obviously thinking hard. "Who would win in a fight: Superman or Batman?" Brock asked.

"Batman, probably," I said.

"Nuh-uh. Superman, hands down," Johnny said.

"Batman could just use Kryptonite to weaken Superman, and then kick his butt," I said.

"Right!" Brock said, turning to Johnny with a finger pointed skyward. "I told you I was RIGHT!"

"What are you knuckle-heads talking about now?" Brittany asked, staring at her nails. She stepped in between our group and sat on the bench lining the inside of the boat. With a small sigh, I turned back to the front of the boat. At the halfway point, I could see the tip of the island above some heads. I hurried and unzipped my bag and pulled out my camera. I slipped past several tourists and families until I could get a good look at it, at the front of the boat. I snapped a few shots of the island as a whole. I wanted to get plenty of pictures to go with the story. Then I headed back to the rest of the group, on the far left side of the boat.

It didn't take long for the boat to cross the water and dock on the other side. The crowds pushed and pulled, slowly moving everyone off the boat. Eventually I got off and moved aside, waiting for the rest of the group. Brittany nearly leapt off the ramp, flailing her arms all about. She walked over, huffing and trying to flatten her shirt. "The nerve of some people. They're like animals!" she puffed.

"Oh calm down," Pepto said, walking over with Jonny and Brock in toe. "It wasn't that bad."

"Wasn't that bad?" Brittany repeated, agape. I sighed with a brief eye roll. I didn't even really understand why Brittany was on the trip, or in the journalism class, for that matter. Mr. Blac joined the group, holding his duffel bag in one hand and a notepad in the other. "Roll call," he said, looking over the notepad. "Johnny Dario?"

"Here," Johnny said.

Mr. Blac nodded. "Brittany Hopkins?"

"Here," Brittany sighed, still trying to fix her clothing.

"Brock Knight?"

"Here," Brock said, snapping his attention back from the park.

"Um… _Pepto_ Stevenson?" Mr. Blac sounded uncertain about his name. Of course, it was a nickname, but an odd one at that. Pepto nodded. "Here, teacher man," he said. Mr. Blac sighed before continuing. "Madelyn Grady?"

"Here," I said, with a brief hand raise.

"Alright everyone. First we go to the hotel and get settled. Then you're free to leave the group for a short time if you'd like," Mr. Blac said. He started walking toward the main drag of the park and Johnny and Brock followed first. Pepto and I headed next, and Brittany dragged along behind. I made sure to get pictures of all the shops and restaurants along the way. The real reason I volunteered wasn't the dinosaurs. It was to visit my uncle. He actually works here at the park, and he'd said he could show me around 'backstage style', as he put it.

My aunt said she'd be at the park on Saturday—tomorrow afternoon—and we could meet up then, and fly home together. I agreed to it because, frankly, I haven't spent enough time with family recently. On either side of a cement road were wide sections of wall-to-wall stores and restaurants. I made a mental note to visit some of the stores before I left.

The hotel looked like a modern Caribbean cabaña. Medium dark woods and white chairs and couches in the lobby. Large, stand-alone-style posters for the park are stationed at the entrance and lobby bathrooms. You can't take your mind off the park, even when you pee. Mr. Blac gets our reservations in order and leads everyone into the elevator. During the short elevator ride, he told us about the sleeping arrangements.

There's one room for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the teacher. I nearly gagged. Sharing a room with Brittany sounded less than palpable. How could I enjoy a theme park full of dinosaurs when I have Brittany breathing down my neck? It would be hard, but I think I could bring myself to do it. Brittany snatches the room key before I can when Mr. Blac hands them out.

He almost looked sympathetic. I sighed and followed Brittany down the hall two doors to the room we'd share for the weekend. Once inside, Brittany drops her bag on the 'best looking' bed in the room, out of the two to choose from. I put my bag on the other bed, directly across from Brittany's, and pull out my cell phone.

Before I go anywhere, I tell Mr. Blac I'm going out to look around for a couple hours. "Alright. Here is my phone number, remember to call if you're going to be late getting back. And don't stay out past diner," he reminded. I nodded and he held out a post-it with his number jotted down on it. I took the post-it and slid my camera strap over my neck so that the camera rested on my chest. I hurried back into the room I shared with Brittany and went to my bed. I unzipped the top flap of my duffel and pulled out my leather satchel.

I stuffed my cell phone, pens, erasers and pencils, and my journalism book inside the satchel, then pulled it on my shoulder. I took the elevator to the lobby. I stopped off at the front desk and grabbed one of the park maps I saw earlier from the stand-up display. As I left the hotel, I unfolded the map. The park looked impossibly big. So I decided to work on my article as I went. First things first, I pulled out my cell phone and created a contact for Mr. Blac. Then I dialed my uncle's number. While the phone rang, I looked around in one of the souvenir shops.

The phone rang and rang and finally went to voicemail. I sighed and dialed again. He answered on the third ring. " _Hello_?"

"Hey, it's Maddie," I said, into the phone.

" _Oh, hey. How close are you to the park_?" he asked.

"Um, I'm actually here already," I said. "Where did you want me to meet you?" He hummed on the other end and I fingered a plush toy of the aquatic dinosaur at the park. The tag said it was a Mosasaurus. " _How about I meet you at the Visitor Center_?" he said, suddenly.

"Okay, that's fine. I'll see you soon, then?" I asked.

"Yep, see you soon, kiddo," he said. I rolled my eyes at the name. He's always called me kid or kiddo, no matter how old I was. It's endearing but also annoying at the same time. I hung up the phone and continued to look around the shop. This shop had a display of dinosaur necklaces. They had silvers chains and silver circle pendants with different dinosaur heads embossed on them. I looked through them for a minute, and then stopped on the only gold chain on the rack. It was all gold, like the silver ones, except this one had a Tyrannosaurus Rex head on it, while the others only had small dinosaurs on them.

I couldn't help myself; I had to buy it. It was only ten dollars, and I figured it wasn't a huge dent in the two hundred I'd saved up for the trip. I paid for the necklace, and then started for the Visitor Center. I put the necklace on while I walked. The Visitor Center was kind of crowded, but I was able to get a good look around. Straight back and slightly to the left of the door was a room labeled in gold "The Hammond Creation Lab". I turned on my camera and took a picture of the sign and the statue of the illustrious founder of Jurassic World.

Well, Richard Hammond founded the old park, entitled Jurassic Park. From what I've heard, that park didn't work out so well. It didn't even open to the public for safety reasons. A large hologram of an Apatosaurus filled the center of the room as little kids watched in awe. "Maddie!" I turned to the right, at the sound of my name. Just then, my uncle walked to me from a hallway to the right. I smiled and so did he. "Uncle Owen!" I said, as he moved to hug me, smiling. I hugged him back willingly. "Hey kiddo. How've you been?" he asked, stepping back.

I nodded a little. "Pretty well," I said.

"Great. So, you ready to see something cool?" he asked, seeming giddy. His excitement was curious, and I nodded. "Yeah, totally," I said. I felt much happier upon greeting my uncle. He was always the nice relative I actually enjoyed hanging out with. "Come on," he said, grabbing my hand. He pulled me along, down the hallway he'd come from. We went down the hallway and turned a sharp left, into a lab looking room. "Are we supposed to be in here?" I asked, glancing around at the scientists. It was only then I noticed we were behind the glass wall, where all the visitors were pressed, trying to see inside.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," Owen waved it away. We reached a small, round, incubator-looking station where a couple of men in white lab coats stood. As we skidded to a stop beside the station, I noticed four cream colored eggs sitting in a straw-like nest. "Oh my goodness. Are those actual eggs?" I asked, glancing at my uncle. He nodded excitedly. "Yep. These are Velociraptors," he said. "They're about to hatch." I glanced up at the men in lab coats, watching the eggs. "Are we supposed to be here?" I asked.

"Yes. I've been cleared to be here during the hatching, that way they know me as the first thing they see. It makes the experiment flow smoothly," Owen said. Suddenly a loud ripping sound pulled me from my thoughts. The eggs twitched in their spots as little lines broke through the smooth outer shell. I turned my camera to the right setting, sure to turn off the flash. "Can I, um…?" I held up my camera a little, looking at the men in coats. One nodded. "Sure, go ahead," he said.

I bent down a little to get a better angle just as another large crack ripped through the egg closest to me. I took a picture or two, and then the side of the top of the egg broke open, revealing the small raptor inside. I gasped, standing upright. Owen chuckled and took a pair of latex gloves from one of the men in coats. He slid them on and then stepped closer to the station. He reached over and pulled a small piece of shell off the raptor's head, helping the little guy out a bit. I made sure to get pictures of that, as well.

If I get to see things like this on day one, what will I get to see on days two and three? And day one isn't even over yet. None of my classmates get to experience this; this lighthearted moment of excitement. I can only hope I get to make the most of it.


	3. Chapter 2: Kit

The plane ride wasn't that bad and neither was the boat, for that matter. But, it's business as usual. The only thing different about this day is that I'm going to be determining whether the public is safe from a possible dinosaur attack or not. Yeah, not a normal day for me. But for everyone in Jurassic World, it is. A tall, skinny woman shows me to my room at the hotel. She's been talking since I met her down stairs. I stopped listening about three seconds later. She unlocks the door and leads me in. It's a big room for one person, which is fine since I'm not paying for it.

She hands me a wrist band, mentioning something about vip as I tossed my backpack on the bed. I mumble "thanks" as I walk past her and to the window. "Ms. Jones?" She finally breaks me from my thoughts, and I turn to face her. "Would you like me to get the rest of your bags?" I shook my head as I pointed at my backpack. "No, thanks. This is all I have," I replied.

She looked like she was staring into nothingness as she processed what I said. I'm sure I'm the only person she's seen bring only one bag. But in my defense, it is a large backpack.

A split second later she was back to annoying. "Okay." She was a little too cheery for my tastes. She clasped her hands together, "Well, your meeting with Ms. Dearing is at five o'clock tonight. Someone will come to your room and escort you there." I nodded. "Why so late?" I asked. It took her a minute to reply. "Let's just say… you're not the first person to approach us with safety concerns." That means that they are going to give me the run around. Should've known. But at least they are paying for my three day weekend.

Without another word, she turned and left, closing the door behind her. I put the wrist band on as I sat on the bed. I dug through my back pack until I found my wallet and cell phone. I slipped them into the back pockets of my jeans and then continued digging. I pulled out my skin tight, blue jacket and put it on. I pulled my jet black hair out of its pony tail and then grabbed my sunglasses.

I headed out the door as I glanced at my watch. Four hours to kill. In this place that shouldn't be too hard. I skip the line for the elevators and head for the stairs. I came out into the lobby, nearly getting trampled, and then quickly exited the building. I trot down the stairs and out into the sea of people. On my way to find a place to eat, I stop at a gift shop.

I bought three disposable cameras and then looked around for a minute. My dad wouldn't come with me, and was totally against me coming. So, I said I'd take pictures. He didn't like that, but I don't really care. From the outside, the park looks perfect. So I'm going to prove my father wrong and come home with proof that it is. But I think Jurassic World is a little too much for him. Of course, if I went through what he did I wouldn't want to come back either.

I make my way through the sea to a burger joint across the street. I stand in the corner, eyeing the menu. Fifteen dollars for a half pound cheeseburger is outrageous. But they have to make money somehow.

I order two and charge it to the Jurassic world employee credit card the chick gave me. But I'm not an employee. I just made a deal with them. They pay for me to come and see for myself that the park is safe, and I'll be on all of their billboards and commercials. Apparently I have the "face they've been looking for." Whatever that means. But it pays good and right now I don't have a job. So, hopefully this trip goes well.

I eat the burgers as I walk. Eventually I ended up at the Visitor Center. I follow the crowed into the building. The inside looks better then the brochure. My eyes are quickly fixed on the sign that reads, "Hammond Creation Lab." I look at the statue of the guy and then back up at the sign. My dad always has a few choice words for that guy.

I stroll around the room, taking it all in, and then leave. I spend the next hour going from shop to shop. I stumble upon a bar and spend forty-five minutes and twenty-five dollars in there. Of course the prices were crazy.

I decide to head back to the hotel and jump into the crowd. As I walk, I let my mind wonder. Next thing I know, my shoulder is slamming into someone else's. The young woman and I both say a brief "sorry" and then continue walking. But the sound of metal hitting the pavement caused me to stop. I looked down and saw a gold necklace on the floor.

I picked it up and then quickly stood, looking for the woman. I spun around a few times, searching every face. Then I began walking around, trying to spot her. After ten minutes I gave up. She was gone, vanished into thin air.

I looked down at the necklace still clutched in my hand. It was completely gold, chain and all. The pendent was a circle with a T-Rex head engraved into the middle. I saw some like it at a gift shop, but they were all silver. I sighed and put it in my pocket. I headed back to my room, where I waited for a half hour.

At five minutes 'til five, someone knocked on my door. I answered the door and was greeted by an older gentleman. He then led me out of the hotel and the Visitor Center. We went through a locked door hidden in the corner, and down the hallway. There were some conference rooms here and there, but most of the doors were closed. We went to the end, to an open door. I followed him in and then he closed the door. Everyone was already there. There were five people, including me and the guy.

Three dudes in suits sat on the sides of the table. Claire Dearing, the woman deciding my fate, sat at the head. I stick out like a sore thumb, but they don't seem to care. I sat down at the end of the table as the other guy sat to my left. It felt a little awkward until people started talking.

"Welcome, Ms. Jones," Dearing said, as she opened the folder in front of her. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." She looked a little flustered. Hair was windblown, a coffee stain peeked out underneath her jacket, and her hand was glued to her phone. I guess that's the stress of running this place. "Well, thank you for the opportunity." I smiled just enough to not scare her away.

"So, the job is simple. Most of the time you'll be standing there looking pretty. But we might have you say a few words on a commercial or something," I nodded, thinking. "In case you're wondering, one of our employees had some good things to say about you, which is why you're the only candidate." That's weird. I don't know anyone here. "Who?"

"Mr. Cruthers." She replied. Oh, yeah, I do now him. But that's a long story that shouldn't be told at a job interview. Or ever. I had no idea he ended up here though. "Oh, well that was nice of him," I lied. I don't really care for the guy. But I've been known to say what people want to hear and not what I'd like to say. I noticed she started pulling official looking papers out of the folder. "I'm not going to sign anything, yet." She stopped and looked at me. "The deal was that your people would show me the enclosures, and let me decide for myself weather I'd like to promote this park or not."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of that." She glared at the man next to her. "But of course. Take as much time as you need. I'll have someone come by your room in the morning." Miscommunication in any business is never a good thing. So that's strike one. Everyone stood up and began to leave. All of the men left as Dearing walked up to me. "If you don't mind, what are your concerns with the park?" I'm not surprised she's asking. But in a way I kind of am. I looked at her with a serious look and said, "My father was one of the men Hammond brought to Jurassic Park-" She nodded as I spoke, now understanding. "To do a test run, make sure it was safe for the public. So I have a few concerns. But that was nineteen years ago. I'm sure everything's fine now."

"Yes, it is." She looked a little nervous now. She walked to the doorway, stopped and turned around. "What is your first name? It's not in the file." Strike two. She looked embarrassed to have to ask. I smiled. "It's Kristofel. Kristofel Jones."


	4. Chapter 3: Maddie

"So, let me get this straight," I said, scrolling through the pictures on my camera from day two. "You're going to _train_ Velociraptors like they're dogs?"

Owen sighed. "Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad. But, you see, Maddie, that's not the point. We know they're not dogs. This is just to test their intelligence," he explained. I nodded, sliding my camera away into my satchel. I pulled out my pad and pen and started scribbling down the information. "You're really serious about this journalism thing, aren't you?" Owen said, glancing at me sideways.

"I signed up for the class," I shrugged. "I just want to pass it, I guess." He nodded as we walked. We hit a crowded area, causing us to have to duck around a few families and groups of tourists. Suddenly my shoulder slammed into something hard, knocking me a bit off balance. I'd run into some woman. "Sorry," I said, wiggling through the next crowd. I got out the other side, where Owen was waiting, and sighed heavily. "Is this place always so busy?" I asked him, as we resumed walking.

He chuckled, reaching up to flatten my hair. We headed toward the far left path by the Visitor Center as he answered. "Not always. But the traffic does pick up during spring break, summer vacation times, blah blah blah," he said.

"Do any dinosaurs ever get out?" I asked.

"Um, sometimes. But it's easy to get a sedated Triceratops back into an enclosure," he shrugged. Then he perked up a bit as we rounded the corner of the road, heading left, away from the Visitor Center. I glanced to see what was so exciting, and I was answered quickly. "The T-Rex enclosure?" I asked, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"See, here, we call them 'paddocks'," he said, sarcasm ever present, mocking what I assume to be a corporate accent.

"Right, because they're horses," I quipped, sliding my paper away.

"Exactly," he said, with a small wink. We went through the gates and into the building. Up the stairs and to the right and you're in the viewing area. Just as we entered, the voice over the speakers announced that it was feeding time. I pulled out my camera and moved closer to the glass. The room started to fill a bit, and I had to do a little shoving to get a decent shot. "Hey, Maddie! Over here!" I raised an eyebrow in confusion and glanced around.

A flailing pair of arms caught my attention. Owen shoved in beside me, to my right, with a small huff. "Sheesh, let me get out of _your_ way," he mumbled, shaking his head at some woman in a big hat. As it turns out, those flailing arms belonged to Johnny. Johnny, Brock, and Pepto all stood crammed into the corner of the viewing room, on the other end of the window. "Who are they? Your boyfriends?" Owen asked.

"Heavens, no," I said, quickly. "They're from my journalism class. Come on." I grabbed his wrist and pulled, tugging him along the glass, past kids with big disposable cameras and more women with big hats. We finally made it to the group, thankfully in one piece. "Hey, Maddie," Brock said.

"'Sup, Mads," Pepto said, faced pressed against the glass. I could just barely understand what he'd said. "Who's the dude?" Johnny asked, eyeing Owen.

"Dude?" Owen repeated, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed. "Guys, this is my uncle, Owen Grady. He works here at the park."

"You work here? So sick," Brock said.

"This is Brock, Johnny," I said to my uncle, pointing them out. "And that's Pepto."

Owen started chuckling. "Whoa, wait a second. His name is ' _Pepto_ '?" he asked.

"It's a nickname," I said.

"Did he lose a bet?" Just then, down belong in the T-Rex pen, a goat hollered. He was tied to a certain spot, waiting to be eaten in front of the audience. The tree line a few yards from the goat rustled and Brock squealed like a girl. "It's coming," he said, in a high pitched tone, drawing out every syllable. I shook my head, but I couldn't help but chuckle a little. Then, out from the trees marched the ginormous beast. "Wow..." I said, quietly.

I pulled up my camera and took a few pictures. The Tyrannosaurus was huge. It had a gray colored body and yellow-looking eyes. It hunched low a little, heading straight for the goat. It only took it a few seconds to get there. Once it did, it toward over the poor thing. And it one lunge it crunched down on the goat, nearly eating the whole thing in one bite. The crowd cheered, but I was left a little sick to my stomach. "Aw, man, that's sick!" Pepto said.

"So sick!" Johnny agreed.

"Hey, who's up for getting splashed by a Mosasaur?" Owen said, mainly looking at me. He seemed to notice my change in mood before I'd even said anything. "Is it done yet?" I heard a familiar voice and turned around. I stood on my tip toes to see Brittany, standing over by the stairs. "It's really gross, guys," she said, looking anywhere but at the glass.

"Come on, let's go," Johnny said, wriggling through the tourists to get to the stairs. Brock and Pepto followed, and I turned to Owen. "Wanna tag along?" I asked, with a grin.

"Sure, why not," he smiled. He draped an arm over my shoulders and we followed the masses to the stairs. Outside the gates, we met up with the group. Johnny and Brock couldn't stop talking about the T-Rex eating the goat. Brittany visibly gagged and wrinkled her nose. "How is watching a dinosaur eat another animal entertaining?" she asked. That caused an argument between Brittany and Pepto to ensue.

It continued until we reached the Mosasaur stadium. Of course, the boys wanted to sit in the splash zone. So I left my bag behind a trash can outside before going in. Thankfully we packed a change of clothes. The 40ft monster splashed water clear up to the dry seats. And it wasn't just a trickle, but full-on waves of water. We came out of it soaked from head to toe. Then Brock had the idea of checking out the Gyro Spheres.

Thanks to the heat and humidity of the area, we dried off on the way. Of course, Brittany refused to go anywhere but the hotel to change, so we went without her. We stepped up in line, and I pulled off my button up, leaving me in a fuchsia tank top. I rang out the button up over some bushes while our group stepped up the line. "Having fun yet, kid?" Owen asked, with a smile. I smiled back and shook out my shirt. "Definitely," I answered.

I pulled my shirt back over my tank top and tied the sagging material above my waist. Just then, the worker at the front of the line called next. The people in front of us got in the hamster balls on the track and we stepped up to take their place in line. "This is gonna be so awesome dude," Johnny said to Brock.

"There are two seats in each sphere, and we have five people," Pepto pointed out. No one had thought of that. But I really didn't want to be stuck with one of the boys in those tiny balls. So we all agreed that I was going with my uncle, Johnny was going with Brock, and Pepto would go with the next person in line. He seemed fine with that decision, as he was already scouting out who was going with him.

The next ball became available. I glanced at Brock and he and Johnny waved me forward. "Ladies first," Johnny said.

"Okay." The Gyro Spheres took us down into the valley with the Apatosaurus herds. Owen gave me the luxury tour, doing his best impression of an actual tour guide, pointing out every different dinosaur we came to and gave a brief history on them. I took pictures as best I could through the sphere, and wrote down anything that seemed significant.

By the time we got back to the start, the group had to go back to the hotel to check in with Mr. Blac, as the sun was already starting to set. I checked my cell phone clock as our group started back for the hotel. Our flight home was at seven-thirty, and it was already five-fifty. "When is your flight?" Owen asked, falling into step beside me while the others ran ahead.

"Seven-thirty," I said. "It shouldn't take long for me to pack, though."

"Want to meet at a restaurant for diner before you go?" he asked.

I nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that'd be nice," I said.

"Great. So we'll meet around six-thirty?" he asked.

"Sure. I'll see you then," I said.

"See you then." I hurried to catch up with my classmates, already halfway back to the hotel. After we checked in with Mr. Blac, I headed into the room I shared with Brittany to pack. It didn't take me long, seeing as I only had a duffel bag, so it gave me plenty of extra time to change before diner. I washed and dried my hair, leaving it down. Then I dressed in loose jeans, a t-shirt and jacket, and my white sneakers. As I finished brushing my hair, I noticed the absence of a gold chain.

I spent the next twenty minutes tearing my room apart looking for it. I even went to a few of the shops that were still open to try and find another one, but no such luck. It was saddening, but I decided to cut my losses. I was already out and about so it didn't take me long to meet Owen at the restaurant.

We sat at a table and talked for a minute. The waiter came and took our orders and I sure he wouldn't say anything about mom. But, as usual, I was wrong. "How's your old man doing?" he asked. It took me a second to keep my face even. A nice, normal smile and flat features. "Um, I haven't been home much. But I spoke to him on the phone last week, and he says he's doing fine," I answered. I inhaled. He nodded. "Haven't you been going back for holidays and vacations and stuff?" he asked.

"I don't vacation much," I said. "I usually go on extra credit trips." Diner was a bit awkward after that. But it ended fine. He gave me a hug and told me to, "Be safe, kid." Then I went to meet the group at the hotel. From the hotel, we walked to the boat. It was the last boat of the night, and there weren't many people. But it was still a bit crowded.

The boat ride didn't take long, and then we were taking a bus to the airport. On the bus, I pulled my scarf out of my duffel bag and loosely draped it around my neck. I pulled my hair up into a pony tail on the way into the airport. We checked our bags and carry-ons and then headed toward Gate B, where our flight will be taking off in roughly ten minutes. We enter the line of others taking the late night flight back home waiting to go through the metal detectors.

I don't like airports. They can be so stressful sometimes. After getting through the detectors, our group slowly gets going toward Gate B. Johnny and Brock are debating another 'who would win' topic. Brittany's filing her nails while we wait to board. Pepto is aimlessly looking around. Mr. Blac is making sur everyone is here. And I'm standing patiently, waiting to hurry up and get on the plane. It took a few minutes to get us up to the flight attendant taking tickets, but we got there. I handed in my ticket and then followed the group into the plane.

Once again, I followed the numbers to my seat, occasionally passing the overstuffed passenger. Thankfully I had another window seat. I crammed my bag in the overhead and then slid into my seat. It only took a few minutes for the plane to finish boarding. And then we were off. I pulled my ear buds in and after pulling my belt over my lap and locking it into place. After a while of music, my battery died. So I stuffed it away in my pocket just as I heard a baby start crying from a few aisles back.

I sighed and leaned back into my seat. Suddenly the plane jerked to the right, sending me slamming into the window. Small shrieks erupt here and there. I glanced out the window, and then I saw it. The left engine was engulfed in flames. The plane shook violently and everyone started screaming and shouted. A small siren of sorts started wailing as I felt my body being pulled backward. The plane tilted downward in a sudden drop and my hands gripped the seat.

The plane bounced a little as I noticed trees out my window. Then suddenly the whole plane slammed into something hard, nearly sending me out of my seat.


	5. Chapter 4: Kit

On Saturday someone came to my room, like they said. The same guy from the other day took me to each enclosure. We were half way through when I made my decision. I believe that this park is safe. From what I've seen, they have covered every scenario. So I was able to spend the rest of my afternoon enjoying myself. I think the T-Rex fascinated me the most.

We got there in time to watch the feeding. I think it's a little inhumane to only be feeding him goats. He swallows the whole thing in one bite. The whole point of his big mouth and all those teeth is to use them. They should drop in an elephant or a rhinoceros every once in a while. That would really give people a show.

The hamster ball ride through the herds of dinosaurs wasn't that bad either. But the whole time you feel like someone's going to step on you. I'm amazed at how they don't get all "this is my territory" on you. I made sure to avoid the birds all together and just take their word for it. Especially after I learned that they had made two very territorial, very mean, types of flying reptiles. Yeah, I'm not touching them with a ten foot pole. I have enough problems as it is with normal birds…forget the prehistoric ones.

The thought that they could swoop down at any minute and peck my eyes out, is enough to send me into a panic attack. But I feel like I should mention that my best friend was a Lovebird named Sparkles. I got him when I was six and he lived five years longer than his life expectancy. I went to the pet store a couple of years later to see about getting another, and…let's just say it didn't go well. No one can replace Sparkles!

Anyway… I took as many photos as possible. Then went and bought a lot more cameras. All day I kept an eye out for the owner of the necklace. I don't really know what to do with it, so I just stuff it into my back pack. In my back pack, I packed three changes of clothes, an old pair of sneakers, two ball caps, two different jackets, binoculars, and a medium sized medical kit. I always come prepared.

I gather all of my cameras and stuff them in there too. I think I counted ten. That's another thing. I love taking pictures. I would've brought mine, but I didn't want some idiot breaking it. I put my wallet and phone in the outside pocket. Then I put the two Jurassic world canteens in the other outside pockets, one on each side of the bag.

Unfortunately, it's time for me to leave. But I'll be back soon. This morning I signed the papers, so now I'm an employee. Dad's really going to love that. I put my jean jacket on and then swung my bag over my shoulder. I left the room and headed for the stairs. Once at the bottom, I head straight for the desk.

I walk by, tossing my key card on the counter. I slowly make my way to the dock and then board the boat. Since the boat was leaving, it wasn't very crowded. Which was nice because I got a better look at the island. I pulled the plane ticket out of my back pocket, verifying the flight again. Flight 205 to Miami, Florida. Gate B. Flight leaves at 7:30pm on Sunday. Got it.

I don't live in Miami. From there I have to get on another plane, which will take me home. And for me, home is Oregon. I exit the boat and head straight for my plane. After going through all of the security, I confront the ticket lady. She was too nice, for me. How much do they get paid to act like that? I thank her and move on. I board the plane and figure it won't take long to find my seat. Half the world is in this thing. Which you wouldn't have known from the boat ride.

I put my bag down by my feet after I discover that the overhead is full. I have an aisle seat. But I'm sitting next to some newlyweds. Probably on their honeymoon. They look a lot younger than me. The constant whispering is getting on my nerves and we haven't even taking off yet. After the plane took off, I closed my eyes and tried to drown everyone out.

And it worked. For about an hour. That's when a baby in the next row started crying. The plane lurched to the left, causing the people next to me to slam into me. I could feel the plane descending as it rocked from left to right. I quickly glanced around the plane at everyone bracing for impact. A second later, it felt like the plane hit a brick wall. Then we stopped.

Someone from the back yelled to stay in our seats, as I unbuckled. I leaned across the honeymooners and looked out the window. I saw sand to my right and ocean to the left. Where the nose of the plane is. My heart started pumping faster as I sat in my seat. I looked around and then stood. The pilot's door hasn't opened yet. I start walking toward it. I've only taken a few steps when I fall on my butt as the whole plane jerks forward.

A few people scream and start to panic. I stand as it slides forward again and then stops. I take a few more steps, holding onto the seats as it does it again. I look up at the pilot's door, glancing down I freeze. It's not much, but there is water coming under the door. That's not good. The pilot must have died on impact and now the cockpit is filling with water.

That means- the plane slides harder this time. I fall again, despite my efforts. The whole plane is sliding into the ocean. I quickly stand as a man walks up to me. He looks a little older than I but at least six inches taller. He grabs my arm to help steady me. "The plane is sinking into the ocean," I whisper. His eyes quickly lock onto mine. "We need to get everyone off."

He nodded, understanding what I was getting at. We need to clear the plane of one hundred and fifty passengers and not cause too much panic. "Okay!" the guy yelled, "every one listen!" The crowd quickly shut up. "I need everyone to follow my orders. One by one, I need everyone to exit the plane the way you came in. I want everyone in the front seats to go first and then the middle and so on. There's no need to panic, everyone just needs to get off this plane."

One of the flight attendants opened the door and the crowd went crazy. Everything this guy just said went in one ear and out their rear. People were moving faster than I thought they could. Pushing and shoving, making sure they get out alive. The plane jerked again. But this time, after it stopped I could still feel the ground moving.

Just enough to feel it. Now the water was a foot away from the door and people saw it. They started screaming, causing more of a panic. The people closest to the water began shoving their way to the front. Some three hundred pound guy was bulldozing people over. He shoved some people past me, forcing me to shove myself against the seat.

Then he came up next to me, continuing to shove. At that point I'd had enough. I straightened my arm and then through it back as hard as I could. My elbow breaking his nose as it hit, and yelled, "Wait your turn!" He stumbled back, blood running down his face. I looked toward the back of the plane. The guy was nowhere to be found.

Then I started making my way to my seat. I grabbed my bag off of the floor, tossing it over my shoulder as I stood in my chair. Only a quarter or so of the plane was empty now. Three guys were trying to shove themselves out the door at the same time. Some black guy came up behind them and shoved the middle guy, causing them all to fall out.

On the other side of the plane, across from me, the woman and her baby stood next to her seat, getting shoved around. She must have gotten separated from her husband. I wait for my opportunity and then jump across the aisle, landing in the middle row. I step on to the floor and then walk up to her, pushing the people away from her. "Come on. I'll get you out of here."

She looked relieved and frightened at the same time. I opened the overhead above them and pulled out what looked like a dipper bag. "Grab the other one too," She said. I reached up and pulled out a large duffle bag shoved in the back. I held the two bags in my left hand and then placed my right on her back. As soon as I saw a spot, we jumped out into traffic and made our way two the door.

I glanced back and saw more water. There was another jerk as we neared the door. A couple of guys let us go ahead of them. She slid down the yellow inflated slide first. I tossed down the bags and then slid down. I quickly got the bags and then guided the woman out of the way. We ran up onto the beach, closer to everyone else. I turned around and looked.

It was night fall and hard to see. But as soon as my eyes adjusted, I could see the outline of the plane. A third of it was now in the water. People were still pouring out, when I heard a disturbing sound. There was a loud creak like a ship makes followed by the sound of paper sliding across a table. And then the whole plane started sliding into the ocean. And didn't stop.

Thirty seconds later, only the tail was visible. Once it stopped moving all anyone could do was stare. A minute later, someone came up out of the water. A split second later, three or four guys were taking their shirts off and running into the water. Then more people came out of the water. Three minutes later, all of the guys were making their way back to shore.

The woman next to me shouted something and then ran to her husband a few feet away. They hugged for forever and then walked up to me. "Thank you." The man was out of breath. All I could do was nod. How many people didn't get off the plane? I snapped out of it and gave them their bags. "What's in the duffle bag?" I asked.

"About a million diapers," The woman replied. I nodded and then held out my hand. "Kit." They paused for a second and then the man took my hand. "Chuck," He said. "And this is Sarah." I smiled and then looked back at the tail sticking up out of the water. The wind was warm as it hit you. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder.

The man from earlier came up to me as the couple left. "Glad to see to mad it," He said.

"Yeah, me too," I said. He was soaked. Probably one of the ones who went back in. "Where do you think we are?" he asked. I tossed my bag on the ground and then sat. "On an island," I replied. I could hear him smile as he sat. "Funny."

"I'm Ben," He said.

"Kit." We both stared out into the ocean. After that we didn't say much. I tried to sleep at one point, but it was no use. Everyone was talking too much. At eight the sun was fully awake and I was able to look around. I grabbed my bag and started walking around. It's definitely a tropical island. Palm trees are everywhere. Now only a foot of the tail is out of the water. It's only ten feet off shore. There must be a ledge right there.

There's nothing but beach for miles in each direction. The tree line is about thirty yards from the water. The crowd was murmuring about water and food. It crossed my mind also. But I shouldn't be hard to find some coconuts and stuff. As for water…maybe we can find fresh water a little farther inland. I put my bag on the ground and then got down on my knees.

I put my hair in a pony tail and then put on my ball cap. I closed the bag and stood as Ben approached. "So how many are there?" I put my back pack on. "Eighty eight," He said.

"Out of a hundred and fifty?" He nodded. Sixty two people died last night. "Yeah, fifteen were dead this morning, from various things. And Darius is trying to get everyone to journey inland, instead of waiting here for rescue," Ben crossed his arms.

"Who's that?" I asked. He pointed behind me to a tall black guy. The same one I saw on the plane last night. "I think we should stay here for a couple of days, give rescue a chance before leaving." Ben nodded, agreeing with me. "Then tell him that," He said. I looked at Darius again. That's exactly what I plan on doing.


	6. Chapter 5: Maddie

The crash left me disoriented. It felt like my whole body was tingling, spinning, and throbbing. My head felt as if it was going to burst any second. I inhaled the smell of sea water and tried to focus my vision. It was blurry and darting all over. It seemed too quiet. Then, I realized I just wasn't hearing it. Looking around I could see people were running, flailing their arms, toppling each other to reach the door. Suddenly a wet, hot trickle slid down my forehead.

I swipe at the trickle and brought my hand up to see. Warm, sticky blood coated my fingers. Then, like someone flipped a switch, all the sound came back at once. It was so loud, the screaming and wailing. That's when I noticed the water steadily rising in front of my seat. I quickly reached for my seat belt and pushed on the clip. It wouldn't budge as I pulled. I glanced back at the water just as the plane slid. It jerked me forward and slammed be back against my seat.

I wrestled with the belt and I could feel water soaking into my shoes. Finally, I was able to unclasp the belt and stand. I was half way up the aisle when I realized I'd left my bag. I hurried back as I felt another slide. The overhead storage opened and I was able to get my duffel out quickly. I moved to hurry back up the aisle in the crowd, when another slide—harder than before—occurred. I fell and dropped my bag. A few people ran past me, and I noticed one of them took my bag with them. "Hey! That's my bag!" I said.

I moved to stand, but was met with incredible pain in my right leg. "AH!" I fell back down and turned. My knee was exposed, raw and bloody looking. My ankle didn't look too good either. I was just more than half way to the door, so I started crawling, using the seats. It was obvious the people flooding out were more concerned with themselves. They pushed and shoved each other, trying to get out first.

The plane was taking a nose dive into the ocean. It was all I could do not to panic. Just then, I heard a voice saying, "There's still people inside! Let's get them out." I glanced up just as a guy that looked not much older than me slid down the aisle, holding onto the seats. "Need some help?" he asked, as he reached for me.

"Yes," I said, grabbing his hand. He helped me up to my feet and we started moving for the exit. "Can you swim?" he asked.

"What?" I asked.

"Can you swim?" he repeated.

"Um, yeah, usually," I answer. We reach the door, and sure enough, the plane is far in the water. We're going to have to swim. "Everything's gonna be fine, okay? Can you trust me?" he asked. An odd creaking sound came from the plane. I nodded vigorously. "Yes, I trust you," I said, my voice shaking a bit. The adrenaline was making it hard to speak clearly, but I did my best. I guessed he heard me, because he nodded. Then, suddenly I was shoved from behind and sent down the yellow slide that was now half under water.

I vaguely heard myself shriek before sliding quickly into the dark water. I used mostly my arms to try and swim back up above the water, but the pain in my leg was debilitated. I would open my eyes but the salt water wouldn't feel too good. Suddenly I felt strong arms around my middle and a tugging, pulling me upward. Then my head broke the surface and I sucked in a breath. I coughed out some salt water and turned. The same guy from inside the plane was holding me above water.

"Thank you," I said. The water was extremely cold, and my teeth were almost chattering because of it. "Let's get you to shore," he nodded. He helped me get to where I could stand, and then I walked/limped the rest of the way onto the beach. It was dark, but I could see there were a lot of survivors. When the water was too shallow to carry me, the guy that rescued me put my arm around his shoulders to help me limp along. "What's your name?" he asked, raising his voice to hear over the ocean.

"Maddie," I said.

"I'm Casey," he said, as our feet hit the dry half of the sand. Suddenly we stopped and he turned to me. "You're bleeding," he said, staring at my forehead. My hand instantly went to the wound on my forehead. Yet again it was wet and warm. "I think I hit my head on the seat in front of me," I said, looking at the red on my fingers.

"Looks like there's a triage set up over there," he said, gesturing to the left with his free arm. I nodded and we started heading over there. In fact there was a triage set up for the injured, to put everyone in minor to serious injury categories. When we got there, a woman directed Casey to sit me on a blue blanket that was laid down on the sand. A second after sitting, another woman came over with a small first aid bag. "Hey there. Oh, that gash on your forehead there looks bad," she said, kneeling to my right.

Casey hung around to my left, standing. The woman examined the gash and then unzipped her bag. "I always come prepared on vacations. Thankfully none of this got wet," the woman commented, digging in the bag. "My name is Cecile. Don't worry, I'm trained in first aid. What's your name sweetie?"

"Maddie," I said. She dabbed up the blood with a piece of cloth, then splayed a small bandage over it. Next she examined my knee and ankle. "Well, your ankle's just bruised. Your knee will need a wrap, though," she said, as she worked. She wrapped up my knee and helped me stand on it. It was only then I noticed Casey was gone.

I could hardly sleep. I had dozed off for maybe an hour the whole night. In the morning, I woke to find a crowd massing not far from the tree line. The people were all gathered around someone. I knew because I could hear him bellowing all the way from where I was. I pulled myself up to stand and meandered over there to the crowd. I slid past a few people and they let me through so I could see.

It was a tall, buff looking black man that had at least a foot on everyone. "...If we stay here, we're likely to starve to death before we're rescued," he said. "But if we go inland, we'll find civilization and get help faster." The crowd murmured, some people applauded in agreeance. And then, like a ball of roaring thunder, a woman with black hair came charging in through the crowd. "Move it people. Come on, move." She elbowed into the crowd and walked up to the black man. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Darius," he said.

"And what exactly do you think you'll find out there in the jungle, Darius? Candy Land? The Temple of Doom? Disney World?" she questioned.

"If we go inland, we'll find civilization," he repeated his speech, daring her to challenge his way of thinking.

"And who gets to make that call, huh? You?" she said. "Who are you to make that decision? There are eighty-eight people here. We can't all pack up and move into the jungle." Darius crossed his arms over his chest. "And you think you get to decide, little girl?" he asked. She scoffed. "Okay, big guy. You call me little girl again, and you're gonna wish you'd died in that plane crash, got it?" she asked. When he didn't respond quickly, she repeated, "Got it?" She took his sigh as a yes and continued. "The people should get to decide," she turned to the crowd. "If you stay here, you'll be spotted if a helicopter or plane comes looking for the crash. If you go inland, there's no promise you'll find civilization."

"My guess," she said, turning back to Darius. "Is that you'll find trees."

"Fine, show of hands. All for leaving into the jungle with me to find rescue?" A lot of the crowd held up their hands. "Come with me then. We leave as soon as we're packed." Darius shoved his way out of the crowd and everyone split. A few people stayed back. The girl turned to those of us that stayed. "If we're staying here on the beach, then we'll need to journey inland a bit to look for food," she said.

"We can send a small group in," a man next to the girl said. I only just noticed him, he came up so quickly. The girl nodded in agreeance. "Who's going? And how many go in?" I asked. The girl looked at me oddly, as if she'd just noticed me. "We can't bring everyone, I mean, someone has to stay here and flag down a rescue plane."

"If there is one." I nearly jumped at the sudden voice beside me. Casey and two other younger looking guys stood to my left. I wrapped my arms around my middle as a breeze blew through. It was still pretty early in the morning, at it wasn't exactly a desert. "We left _Jurassic World_. They'll come looking for us," one of the guys, a brunet one, said. The other one, a blonde, sighed in disagreeance. "We'll send three people," the girl said. Then she eyed me. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, for the most part," I replied.

"If she's going, I'm going," Casey said. The guy next to the outspoken girl turned around to the mass of people farther down the beach. He started walking in that direction. "Hey, anybody know anything about plants?" he called. Someone met him half way, a short Asian-looking man who looked to be in his thirties. They talked for a second, using theatrical hand gestures.

Then the Asian man pointed down the beach and another man—this one American, tall and brunette, maybe thirty—walked over to the man that was beside the outspoken girl. Then they started talking, and they began walking back toward our group. "Who is that?" I asked, leaning toward Casey.

"His name's Ben something. I think he's military," he said.

"No, I mean the brunette one," I clarified.

"I don't know who he is," Casey shrugged. Ben and this new guy made it back to our group. Ben put a hand on the guy's shoulder. "He's coming with you," Ben said. "This is Eric."

"I'll get people started on water," the girl said, before turning and heading down the beach. The other two guys left with her as well. "Make sure you don't get so far in that you can't get back before nightfall," Ben instructed. "Find what you can, and get back in one piece. Okay?"

"Got it, boss," Casey said. Ben gave Casey a pack, then nodded and hurried down the beach. "So...we just go, then?" I asked.

"I guess," Eric said. Casey started toward the tree line and Eric followed. I looked down the beach a second before following behind the boys. We got a little ways in before any talking ensued. And it was mainly just discussing what types of food might grow in the tropics. It was obvious that we were still close to Costa Rica. But how close was uncertain. "What are your names?" Eric asked, while Casey chopped down some fauna a little ways ahead.

"I'm Maddie Grady," I said. "And that's Casey."

"Nice to meet you, Maddie," he said, with a polite smile. "So, why were you at the park?" We continued moving as we talked. The jungle was kind of thick, but we all stuck to a small path-like opening. "Well, I went with my Journalism class—I'm in college—and I visited my uncle while I was there. He works as like a weird sort of dinosaur trainer," I said.

"Your uncle trains dinosaurs?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Velociraptors," I nodded. "I know how it sounds."

"It sounds crazy. Velociraptors can't be trained, they're not dogs," Eric said.

"That's what I said. But, hey, everyone has their stupid ideas," I said.

"Whoa, hold up. I got fruit," Casey said. He was far to the right of the path, looking up at a tree. "What fruit?" I asked, moving over to him. Eric came over behind me, and he squinted at the fruit. "Star Fruit," he said. "Not uncommon in a Costa Rica tropical environment." We spent the next few hours trying to get the Star Fruit off the tree. We filled the pack Casey brought, and then moved on to look for other sources of food. The jungle was extremely humid. I took off my jacket and tied the arms around my waist.

We walked for a long while. No one saw anything that would be edible. Casey, who was leading the group, held up a hand for us to stop moving. Eric and I quickly froze. "What is it?" Eric asked. Casey made a shushing sound, looking through a patch of tall fauna. I carefully stepped past Eric and moved beside Casey. "What is it?" I whispered. He pointed through the foliage and held it out of the way. I gasped. One-by-one, a trail a knee high Triceratopses trotted past us.

"What do you think they are?" Casey asked. "They can't all be young."

"I have no idea," I said, breathless. The little dinosaurs had no idea we were standing there. They were so small, yet they looked like full grown adults. "We should be getting back," Casey said. "The others will want to know that we're sharing the island." I nodded and we started heading back to the beach.


	7. Chapter 6: Kit

"Are you sure it's safe?" Chuck asked, as I handed out water bottles I'd gathered earlier. We found a stream not too far down the beach that flows from the jungle to the ocean. It's about three feet wide and gets narrower the closer it gets to salt water. "No. But it's our best chance for now," I replied. "The water is flowing pretty well and it's really clear, which tells me it's okay. If it were stagnant water then I wouldn't risk it."

He still looked a little unsure, but took a bottle anyway. Everyone was instructed to share the bottles since there aren't very many. But since we don't have as many people to worry about, we should be fine. About two hours ago, Darius left with forty-three people. His speech managed to divide the group in half. I just hope that if he does find help he'll tell them about us.

"Kit," I recognized Ben's voice and turned. He approached me with the three people we sent for food. They had been gone for a few hours, so I sent Ben to find them. But the look on his face put me on high alert. "We need to talk." I followed them a little ways down the beach, out of ear shot.

"What's wrong?" Everyone looks fine. I started getting impatient with their suspense. "They found more than just food out there." Again, Ben was telling me squat. I had a questioning look on my face as I glanced around. "We saw a dinosaur," Casey blurted. I could tell he was irritated with Ben as well.

"A what?" That's impossible.

"They were small, shaped like a triceratops," Eric said.

"'They'?" I had to pull my mouth off the floor. "How many and how tall?" I asked.

"Oh…about a dozen, knee high," He replied.

"Were they walking on four legs or two?" He looked at me weird, hesitating before answering. "Four. And it didn't have any horns. Why?"

"I think it was a Protoceratops," I said. "And they're thought to be nocturnal." The other three had no clue what I was talking about. But I could tell Eric did. "So then," he said. "What scared them awake?" The others were really confused. I'm more interested in finding out more about what Eric knows. "This doesn't make any sense," Maddie said, with concerned on her face. "They're only supposed to be at the park."

"Maybe we circled back around and we're on Isla Nublar," Casey suggested.

"I don't think so," Eric shook his head. "Man, I can't believe this is happening to me again." He sighed as he put his arms up and then began pacing beside us. "So what now?" Ben asked. I ignored Ben and just stared at the trees. Maybe I should've listened to my father.

Now I'm stuck in the same situation as he was all those years ago. I hope this doesn't mean that every generation is destined to go through this, until the dinosaurs succeed and kill us. But that's a stupid thought. Eric looked familiar from the second I first saw him. Now I know why.

"Kit." Ben bumped me to get my attention. "We stay put until we know otherwise," I said. "It's best if we stay out of the jungle and keep quiet. And no signal fires, unless we are a hundred percent sure we see rescue." A couple of college boys started screaming to my right as they jumped into the ocean. Maddie's head dropped into her hands.

"We need to tell everyone," Casey said.

"Then go. Tell them everything I said and that we are not in danger if they listen." Ben, Casey, and Maddie left. Maddie headed for the boys in the water. Probably friends of hers. They look about the same age. I walked up to Eric and grabbed his arm. "Come on." We walked a few more feet down the beach to the stream of fresh water.

I sat on the sand next the stream, taking my pack off. "Spill. Tell me everything." I pulled out my canteens and dipped them into the water. "Okay," He sat. "When I was twelve, a family friend and I went on a trip together, and our boat was destroyed and we ended up stuck on the island. Long story short… the island was Isla Sorna. A second island over run by dinosaurs."

"How did you get off alive?" I asked.

"My parents and a couple other people including Dr. Grant came and risked their lives to save me. He had a friend who called for help, and got us off the island." No wonder I recognized him. He's exactly who I think he is. "You're Eric Kirby?"

He nodded. "Yeah, how did you-"

The sound of a lot of water smashing against itself caused us to freeze. For a second all I could hear was our heavy breathing as our adrenaline started pumping. At the same time, we slowly looked at the water. The tail of the plane had sunk another foot. Ripples from the plane went out into the ocean, causing small waves. I put my canteens back in my bag and then stood.

The boys had come up out of the water and are now standing on the beach with Maddie. I ran up to them, quickly covering the distances between us. "What's going on?" I asked. "

The plane just moved on its own," One of the boys said.

"Yeah," the other agreed. "Like someone pulled on it."

Ripples appeared in the water in front of the plane, moving toward it. Then, the tail of the plane shook before being dragged under water. "I don't think that's a good thing," Ben said as he joined us.

"No, it's not," I agreed. "We need to move, now." We moved away from the water and gathered with everyone else. "Everyone!" I yelled. "We are going to need to move into the jungle for safety, as calmly as possible." I quickly turned as I heard something splash in the water. The front half of the plane flew through the air and landed on the beach about twenty feet away from us. Screaming and chaos followed a second later. "There goes calm."

"What do we do?" Maddie asked me, as everyone franticly ran around us. Just then I recognized her as the girl that lost her necklace back in the park. I glanced away from her and at the water. Then I froze. I slowly looked back at the ocean as an enormous reptile came walking out of it. The long arms and snout, the large sail and whip like tail… words cannot describe a creature as amazing yet terrifying as this.

It walked to the edge of the water and stopped, staring. Its tail almost twitched behind it like a cat. "This is the worst case of déjà vu ever," Eric whispered. It looked old and had a lot of battle scars. I started slowly backing up, pulling people with me. We got a few feet closer to the tree line and then it took off, running toward the crowd of crazy people.

"Run!" I yelled as I ushered people into the trees. I stopped and turned toward everyone else. I cupped my mouth with my hands and yelled, "Everyone get to the trees!" Then I took off into the bushes after Ben, Eric, Maddie, and those other guys. A few seconds later I heard it crash through the trees after us. "How do we get away from it?" Ben yelled back.

"You can't," Eric replied. Just when we thought we were running as fast as we could, we'd hear something behind us that would make us run even faster. I was looking all over the place for some kind of escape. And then I found it. "Over there!" I pointed as I yelled. A cluster of close trees stood about a hundred yards to the left. We quickly changed course and headed for the trees.

I glanced behind me and saw most of the people following. There were even some people in front of us. But the big guy was not very far behind them. Ben ran up ahead and stopped at the entrance to the thicker trees. He then began ushering people inside. He helped us through and then we kept running. More people followed after we were through.

We kept running until we were sure we'd put enough space between us. I stopped and whipped around. The big guy tried really hard to get through but couldn't. He gave up after a few minutes and turned around. He's probably headed back to the beach to finish eating whoever he killed.

"Are you guys…okay?" Ben asked through pants. I was sucking in air like I was dying. The other boys dropped to the floor as they tried to catch their breath. Maddie and I gave him thumbs up. There's no way I could talk right now. In all my life-you know, my pathetic twenty-six years- have I never run that fast. I don't plan on doing it again. But I have a sinking feeling, I'm going to have to.

"What…was that?" Maddie managed to get the words out between breaths. I glanced at Eric and then her. "A Spinosaurus," I said.

"It came up out of the ocean!" she said.

"Yeah, he can swim," Eric said. "Didn't know he liked salt water, though."

She glared at him. "You've been here before?"

"Yeah… I guess I have," He replied.

"We need to gather whoever we can and keep moving," I said. We waited what felt like forever. But we discovered that five people were missing. Considering the fact that it could have been much worse, that's pretty good. Once we were all gathered, we started walking. We decided to head right of the direction we came from.

Going back to the beach is too risky. "Eric, what kind of dinosaurs did you encounter when you were here?" I asked. Our little group was leading the way as everyone else followed. "Well, there was him," he said. "And you're not going to like the others."

I shook my head, "Tell me."

"Okay. T-Rex, Velociraptors, Stegosaurus, and a lot of other herbivores. But the one to really look out for would be the Compies. They're sneaky," He mainly looked at the ground as he walked. "And a lot of other dinosaurs I don't have names for. But a lot of them, like Spinosaurus, no one knew was created."

"Great. So InGen didn't tell us everything. Shocker," I joked. I'm usually good at lightning the mood, but he won't take the bait. I slightly nodded and then walked up ahead to Maddie and Casey. He showed up a few seconds before we left our tree fort. He has a cut on his left arm, but it's not too bad. I took my pack off and held it in front of me.

I dug in the front pockets until I found the necklace and swung the pack back on my shoulder. "Here you go." I dangled the necklace in front of her, the pendent spinning in the air. She gasped and took it from me. "You're the one I bumped into," We both said it in unison.

"Well isn't that convenient?" Casey said. She held it in her hand and didn't let it go. Kind of like what she's doing with Casey. Ever since he showed up after the attack, their hands have been locked together. Although I guess it's kind of like me and Ben. He's not letting me out of his sight. It's like he's decided to play the role of over protective big brother. Maddie's friends finally introduced themselves about an hour ago. Each one tried a different pick-up line.

Brock is not my type and I'm never going on a date with someone who takes pride in calling himself Pepto. We have no idea where we're going, but we are trying to get there as quiet as possible. I notice the sun starting to set as the crowd starts complaining about needing a break.

The murmuring goes on for a few minutes. Then we came across an opening in the trees. About fifty feet away to the left I see an old building. It looks like a good place to take shelter for the night. Ben and Casey go to check it out as I take a look around. The ground we're on feels rock hard, but all I see is an inch of moss.

To my left, in the tall grass, something catches my eye. I walk across the moss and to it. I pull back some of the grass and find a license plate. I start ripping out handfuls of grass and throwing them to the side, until it's uncovered. It's an old van. Looks like it's been here for the last thirty years. All the windows are broken.

I made my way to the driver's side. The door has the remains of some red paint on it. In the middle of the paint are three claw marks, slashing down. Raptors. I turn and look at the building as something else catches my eye. At the top of a thirty foot pole hangs an old orange windsock.

I get a crazy idea and then step out into the middle of the moss. I get down on my knees and begin pulling back the moss. It comes off in chunks like carpet. I here Ben's boots walk up beside me as I'm pulling moss. "What are you doing?" He asked. I smiled at the thought of how this must look.

"I knew it," I stood. Old fading yellow paint meets black asphalt, in the remains of a strip. "This is a runway." I pointed toward the sunset in front of us, where our plane crashed a few miles away. "Our pilot was aiming for this runway. Meaning he knew it was here."

Ben looked at me funny. "Okay…? So, what?"

"So, maybe we didn't accidentally crash on this island. What if someone wanted us here?"


	8. Chapter 7: Maddie

A runway. At first I thought Kit was crazy. But then I began to see it—the moss and grass covered pavement strip, the orange wind sock flapping in the breeze. It screamed _airfield_. "So, maybe we didn't accidentally crash on this island. What if someone wanted us here?" she said.

"Like who?" Ben asked, unbelieving. I stepped over to them, keeping my arms crossed to fight the wind. "Yeah, because, last I checked, no one _wanted_ a plane to crash on a dinosaur infested island," I said, glancing around the area. She sighed, looking around. Murmurs from the group several yards behind us caught my attention. I glanced back and locked eyes with Casey for a second. He shook his head, and I turned back to Kit and Ben. The group didn't seem too happy. _I can't imagine why_.

"It looks like the sun is getting low. We should find what supplies we can here and then find camp," Ben said. My legs felt like collapsing. The muscles felt like noodles, especially those of my calves. And my knee wasn't doing well on the pain scale either. Running from a Spinosaurus was literally the last thing on my list of to-dos today. "Why don't we look in there?" I asked, jutting my chin toward the small building on the left side of the runway.

"Good idea. Casey, come on," Ben said. He started walking toward the building and Casey jogged up to follow him. I couldn't tell what was keeping Kit so quiet. But I followed after Ben and Casey, headed for the building. Kit's words stick to the back of my mind like a post-it note. Could someone have actually wanted us to crash land here? What kind of a twisted sicko would want that?

Ben tries the door while Casey and I stand behind. "It's locked," Ben said. He turned back around to face me. "We'll have to find another way in." He paused with a confused expression and I raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked.

"Where's Casey?" he asked. Only then did I notice Casey had snuck off. "I don't know. He was just here," I said, looking around. I couldn't see him anywhere. A small fleeting panic struck my chest. What if he had gone off into the jungle? He could be eaten by who knows what else is out there. But, just when I really started to worry, a creaking sound came from the door to the building. Ben and I both startled. The door knob fell off of the door and the door swung open to reveal a smug looking Casey. "There was a window out back," he said. "It was open."

Ben sighed and shook his head, sauntering in past Casey. I walked half way in, next to Casey, and smacked his arm. He grabbed it and acted like it hurt, when I know for a fact that it didn't. "Don't just go off without saying anything," I said.

"Or you'll be forced to come rescue me? Maybe I should get lost in the jungle," he said. I shook my head at him while he chuckled a little. "Hey, love birds, when you're done making out can you come give me a hand?" Ben asked. I walked over to Ben, where he was moving a desk of some kind. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Making room. We'll all sleep here tonight. It's much safer than sleeping outside," he answered. I nodded. Right. I should have guessed. Casey came over and helped move the desk against the far wall. We stacked all the furniture against the walls with windows, just to make it safer. Then we went out to inform Kit of our decision. She still looked like she was deep in thought about something. Ben and Casey went to the group, while I went to Kit. "Ben says we should sleep inside that building tonight," I said.

"And you agree?" she asked.

"Um...I don't know. I mean, it would be a lot safer. We could put someone on watch outside in case anything dinosaur related happens," I said. She nodded while I spoke, taking it in. She inhaled and sighed. "Alright," she said. Then she turned to address the restless group. There weren't a whole lot of us beach goers left. I haven't done a head count, but it just looks like we've been cut in half.

"Listen up, everyone! We're going to sleep here for tonight, then move in the morning," she said. There was almost a sigh of relief that rolled over the crowd. Kit then turned to me. "Get Chuck started on wood gathering so we can get a fire going," she said. I nodded, and then I hurried off to find Chuck. He was comforting a man and woman by the back of the group. "Chuck," I said, as I walked up. He turned and smiled lightly. "Hey, Maddie," he said. "What's up?"

"Kit needs us to get a fire started," I said.

"I'll get some guys and go chop down some trees," he said, nodding.

"Great, thanks." After getting a few fires going it was already just after dark. Everyone ate the Star Fruit we'd found on our trek yesterday. And Kit worked out the sleeping arrangements so that everyone had just enough room to squeeze in. I sat, leaning back against an overturned filing cabinet in the far corner of the building. I looked over my red and bloody knee. "Think you'll live?" I glanced up just as Casey sat down beside me. "Possibly," I nodded.

"It actually does look kind of bad. You might want to bandage that," he said, squinting to see my knee in the dark. A thought struck me just then. "What if someone really did want us here?" I asked, quietly. I tried to keep my voice down, as to not wake or bother anyone. Casey was quiet for a minute. Then I felt him shrug next to me. "I don't know," he said, finally.

"Do you think it's possible?" I asked, turning more toward him.

"I guess. But what proof do we have?" he said. I saw his point. Maybe I was getting myself all worked up about nothing. We really didn't have proof; it was just something Kit had said. I reached up and fingered my necklace from the park. I couldn't believe Kit had it all this time. "We're gonna be fine, Maddie. We'll get off this island," he said.

"How?" I asked. I sounded a little more hopeless than intended. But, frankly, I was scared. What if we never did make it off the island? What if we continued walking tomorrow and got eaten by a dinosaur? Or we died from starvation? Or dehydration? It's all possible. "I don't know. But we will. Just try and get some sleep, okay?" he said. I nodded, taking a deep breath, and he slid an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into his chest and he pressed his lips against the side of my forehead.

Once everyone was up and ready, we set out for the jungle. Everyone walked in a semi-solid line through the fauna and foliage, around trees and vines. I was positioned almost at the back of the line when suddenly everyone halted, with gasps and murmurs floating to the back. With the absurd posture, I knew something was up, so I edged my way to the front.

At the front of the line was something completely unexpected: the hull or a plane. A very, very broken and beaten up plane. The wings were gone, from what I could see. Kit and Ben were already investigating from the inside when I made it to the hull. "What plane is this?" I asked, stepping up inside.

"Looks like it might be commercial," Ben said.

"It's private," Kit said.

"How do you know?" he asked her.

"It's too small to be heavily commercial," she said, as if he should have known. But something told me she wasn't saying everything. Casey hopped up into the plane hull from behind me and looked around. "Daaaaang," he said, drawing out the word. "Something freaky happened here."

"No duh, Sherlock," Ben said, stepping out the other end.

"We should keep moving," Kit said, walking my direction. I nodded in agreeance and turned to exit the plane. Casey hopped down first, then offered me a hand. He helped me down the short drop and then we headed back to the group.

We walked for a long time, until we came across a vast clearing filled with tall grass. The group ached for a rest, so we stopped to drink some of what little water we had left. While the group was camped out, I took a walk across the clearing.

There were no dinosaurs in sight. I found it a bit odd, but I mentally waved it away. I was halfway across the clearing when my foot snagged on something. I nearly tripped and fell, but I caught myself. I bent down and pushed through the grass. Underneath a thick layer of grass was an old-looking backpack. I picked it up and brushed it off. I unclipped the top flap and opened it, peering inside.

There were some survival essentials I could see just from the quick peek. I carried the backpack toward Ben, who was closest to me. "Hey, I found something," I said. He stood upright from stretching and I gave him the bag. He opened the flap and rummaged through it. "Good find. We could use this stuff," he said, giving me a single nod. Kit then gave us the signal that it was time to keep moving as she marched past us up the clearing. I sighed. "Does she ever take a break?" I asked, watching her walk away.

Ben slung the backpack over his shoulder and we began walking after her. "I doubt it," he said, to which I chuckled. The rest of the group trailed behind. Casey caught up to us and grabbed my hand. "Hey," he said. "What's with the pack?"

"Found it in the field," I said.

"Oh, yeah, that's natural," he commented, with light sarcasm. We did our best to keep the group moving. All we had to do was remind them of the beach, and they picked up the pace. We took another break a couple of hours later. Casey and I split off to try and find more Star Fruit—or at least something edible—while the group rested. There was a semi-carved out path, and we followed it as we searched the trees with our eyes.

I at least didn't know about any kind of food that grew on the ground anywhere near Costa Rica. We found a tree not too far from the group filled with Star Fruit. So Casey climbed up the tree as best he could to try and get them down. "I'm serious, Casey, get down," I said, as he kept moving up. "You're going to break your neck."

"Are you kidding? I grew up climbing trees," he scoffed.

"When was the last time you climbed a tree?" I asked. He paused in the tree for a minute. "That's beside the point," he said, as he continued climbing. I sighed and crossed my arms as a wind blew through. I twisted to look back at the group, a small blur from this distance. Not a second later, and a snap made me jump. There was a "Whoa!" as I twisted back around, and then Casey toppled to the fauna covered jungle floor—along with about a million Star Fruit.

He rolled to the side a little, and I gasped. "Casey! You idiot!" I knelt down next to him as he rolled onto his back. "Are you okay? Did you break anything?" He started laughing, and I guessed that was a good sign. But my heart was still in my throat. "That...was awesome," he said.

"You could have died!" I said, with a worried-yet-angry tone.

"Calm down, I'm fine," he said, pulling himself up to sit. I stood and helped him up, and he looked around at all the Star Fruit. "Ha. I got lunch, dinner, and then breakfast for tomorrow," he observed, proud.

"And you almost lost your life," I said, annoyedly. I started picking up Star Fruit and putting them in a pile. After a second of silence, Casey joined in the effort to round up all the fruit. "It honestly wasn't a problem," Casey said, standing upright. I stood up with an arm load of fruit. "Maybe not for you," I said, dropping the Star Fruit onto the pile.

"Maddie," he grabbed my wrist and tugged, turning me to face him. He stepped a little closer and his expression sobered. "I'm sorry, okay? I won't fall out of anymore trees, I promise." I inhaled and nodded. It was hard to believe Casey of all people would keep that promise. He cupped my face with his hands and his thumbs twitched across my cheek bones. "We're gonna be fine," he said, reassuringly.

I couldn't tell who he was trying to reassure more: me or himself. But I nodded, unable to really think with him so close. "Hey- okay..." I startled at the sudden voice, taking a few steps backward. Kit sighed and finished walking over to us. "We found something you guys should see," she said. She glanced down at the pile of Star Fruit. "Nice fruit. We'll get that later. Come on." Casey and I followed Kit back to the group.

Just ahead from the group's resting place was a highly overgrown building. The building was huge. It had some kind of obvious road in front of it. There were even a few overgrown cars. Casey checked out the cars while Ben led the way up to the door. It was already open. Ben checked the inside room, then signaled that it was safe to enter: no dinosaurs.

Kit followed in easily. But I stayed at the doorway. The place looked trashed, and not in a good way. Casey joined me at my side and took my hand, giving a small squeeze. "Come on, it'll be fine," he said. I took in a deep breath and nodded. Then we stepped inside.


	9. Chapter 8: Kit

Of course I know people had to be here at some point for there to be dinosaurs. That's not what I'm questioning. I'm questioning why we're here. I know how, all too well. It's the why I can't figure out. And no one is taking me seriously. I thought Ben, of all people, would at least consider the possibility. But he was the first to call me crazy. Sure he didn't actually say that, but I can tell that's what he thinks.

Yes, sometimes I have really crazy ideas. But this just feels wrong. I'm sure our plane had flown that same path a million times. Why, all of the sudden, did it crash? I survey the area as Ben and Casey search the two vehicles buried in grass. We're in the middle of a bunch of mountains. They probably put this place here on purpose, because of that.

The building is quite large. Not all that tall. Looks like there used to be a glass roof, at some point. A large mound of grass and weeds catches my attention, in between the two vehicles. I walk up to it and begin pulling away the foliage. After a while, I start to see some blue lettering with a white background.

I keep pulling, faster. Once the sign is uncovered, I step back and stare at it. InGen. That's what it says. They're the ones who helped Hammond start this mess. They still are making dinosaurs for Jurassic World, as we speak. I walk around the sign and up the first couple of steps. Someone's hand grabs my arm to stop me. I stop but don't look at them.

My eyes stay fixed at the door and the sign above it. Embryonics Administration. In silver letter, written above the door. What I means, I don't know. But I need to. I glance at my arm, still grasped by someone, and then up at the person. Ben's look of concern shocked me for a second. He let go and then walked up the stairs alone.

He entered the building and then disappeared. He came into view a minute later, waving us in. Maddie, Casey, and I walked up the stairs. Everyone else decided to wait outside. I followed Ben in while the other two hung outside. Looks like dinosaurs had their way with this place. A receptionist desk sits a few feet inside the front door.

Everything looks covered in a pound of dust. Every window is broken in some way, leaving this place open to the elements. A phone sat on the side of the desk. I know it's not going to work, but Maddie tries it anyway. A second later she puts it back down. We follow Ben around the corner, down a hallway. All of the walls are cement.

Only a few old pictures hang here and there. We passed three old vending machines as we walked. The one in the middle was shattered and its contents missing. A few more turns and the hallway ends at a closed doors.

"We should probably go back, we've been here long enough," Maddie said. The creepiness of this place was getting to her. Me too. But I need answers. Turning back now is not an option. I quickly step around Ben and open the door before he can stop me. I walked through and stopped on the landing to a set of stairs. I heard the others behind me, as I stared.

The stairs lead down to a large open room, full of old lab equipment. I know what this is the second I see it. They were making dinosaurs here, in this room. I walk down the stairs, shaking off Ben's grip on my arm. I hear him huff as I move further into the room. Large incubators sit in rows, with lager metal claws stationary above them.

The glass dome on each one has been broken, along with all of the eggs inside. I slid my pack off my shoulder and dig around for a camera. I put the pack back on as I bring the camera up to my face.

"This is crazy," Casey said.

"What is all of this?" Maddie asked. I lowered my camera and looked around.

"This…is someone's idea of playing god," I replied. We all fanned out, each looking at something different. I slowly worked my way to the back of the building. It's obvious that some kind of dinosaur was here at some point. I don't think they're still here though. At least I hope not.

I see an open door in the corner and can't help myself. I slowly walk toward it. I stand in the door way looking in. The room looks like a dungeon. It's much smaller than this one and full of metal cages. I walk in, pushing open cage doors out of my way. A few small windows line the roof, each broken. The cages are empty, now. But once upon a time, something was being held here.

I make my way to the back of the room, deep in thought. The door of the last cage on the left is open, like all of the others. But the door is pressed against the wall with its lock latched, causing the door to stay open. I wonder who did this. I hear a cage door creak behind me and jump, whipping around. Ben stood near the door.

"Are you following me now?" I asked, walking toward him. I made sure he knew I was still mad at him for not taking my side.

"Just doing a head count," he said it like it was a fact. Almost like he had orders to do so, so I couldn't blame him. I continued past him, avoiding his face, and out with the others. Yes, Ben's a nice guy and he's not too bad to look at, but I don't need some guardian angel following me around and going first. Taking care of myself is what I do best. The sooner he learns that the better.

"We should get back," I said it without stopping. I walked past them and up the stairs. I heard Maddie call for me, but I kept going. Eventually she caught up. "What?"

"What's up with you, lately?" she asked. I rolled my eyes and then sighed.

"I just need some space, and Ben to leave me alone." I said, "The sooner we get off this island, the better."

"I thought that was the case," she said, taking extra steps to catch up, "That's why Casey is talking to him." I stopped and looked at her. Her sandy brown hair hung wildly around her face. I tightened my ponytail to distract myself before walking again. "How do you know so much about this place?"

"My dad was on the original island many years ago, before it became the theme park you saw," I said, "besides…I use my brain." I looked at her and smiled before exiting the building. I was trotting down the front steps, when a shriek caused me to stop. I looked back at Maddie, but she was looking at me. A second later, the boys came running out of the building.

I looked at the group. They too were looking. I checked the tree line. Nothing. Then I looked at the trees tops surrounding the building. My eyes stopped on something that didn't make sense, to my far right. Above the trees, a mile or two away, a dark cloud of something swirled in the air.

It took a second of staring to realize that there were individual things flying in the cloud. Eric ran up to me. I pointed to the cloud, quickly drawing his attention to it. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know," he said, as the others joined us.

"Are those birds?" Casey had a point. They do look like birds. But not any from this century. We need to leave in case they come this way. I walked down the rest of the stairs, the others following.

"We should keep moving," I said it loud enough for the group to hear. None of them argued, just quickly fell in line. Maddie and Casey came up to the front of the line, with me. I assume Ben's at the back of the line, but I haven't seen him since we were inside the building. We got the star fruit that Maddie and Casey had picked and then continued walking.

Right now, the goal is to find a way off the island. Even if that means walking to the other side of it. We walked for two hours and then took a lunch break. The water is getting low and people are starting to worry. I can tell something's up with Ben, since he's avoiding me, but I didn't come here to fall in love. And I need his help to find water.

I looked around for another person to bring with, someone that might know where to look. My eyes stop on a young man sitting alone off to the side. I walk up to Casey and tap his arm with the back of my hand. "Do you know who that is?" He followed my gaze.

"Yeah," he said, "Steven Hill. He's a boy scouts leader or something." He brushed it off like it was nothing. I gave him a dumbfounded look. "What?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"I need a water search party. Can you and Steven come?" I asked. He nodded, still stuffing his face. I always wondered how much vitamin c was in star fruit. I'm sure I'll find out soon. "Okay. Meet me at the tree line in two minutes." I walked away before he could reply. I could probably get by with the Boy Scout leader, but the question is: do I want to take that chance?

I quickly choose yes and move on. I walk over to a log and pick up my pack. Then turn and head to the meeting stop. When I get there, Casey and Steven are waiting. Casey introduces us and then we start walking. We kept an eye out for dinosaurs, but didn't see any. Though I'm not surprised. Steven wouldn't shut up.

We walked side by side with Casey leading. Figured since he's the tallest he might see any danger first. I was about to yell at Steven for his inability to be quite, when something caught my ear. It was just loud enough to hear, if you were listening. A faint rustle in the bushes…twigs breaking…leaves being smashed.

Something's following us. I can't tell how big. Sounds two-legged, though. The foliage around us isn't very tall, so the creature would have to be small. By now I've completely tuned Steven out. All I hear is what's in the bushes. It moves in sync with our footsteps. But…there! I heard it speak.

A small chirp. Followed by another. And another. And another. There must be a lot of them. Probably the compies Eric was talking about the other day. Compsognathus is a very small dinosaur that usually eats insects or carcasses. But I wouldn't put it past them to try and take on one of us. They wouldn't dare until one of us strayed from the others.

I saw Casey talking to me, but couldn't hear the words. Then everything came flooding back in at once. "Sorry, what?"

"I hear a stream up ahead," he looked at me funny, "everything okay?"

"No. A bunch of little dinosaurs called Compsognathus are in that bush right there," I pointed beside me, "so if you value your life, we need to stay together." The boys looked shocked. Casey nodded and continued, but Steven looked dumbfounded. He wouldn't take his eyes off the bush. I patted him on the shoulder as I walked by.

"Don't make eye contact. They hate that," I whispered. I'm not sure if that's true, but better safe than sorry. A few more steps and I hear him run to catch up, bringing a smile to my face. About ten feet away we found the stream Casey heard. It's flowing really well so we filled our canteens and then the bag full of empty bottles we brought.

"So Steven," I said as we filled bottles. He looked up at me. "Do you do anything besides talk?" Almost instantly, Casey spit out the drink he'd just taken. Steven chuckled as Casey whipped his chin.

"Yes, I've been a boy scout leader for four years," he said tighten the lid on his bottle. "So, besides the dinosaurs, this trip doesn't bother me." He's got blonde hair, blue eyes. Looks about as old as Maddie. Too young for my taste, yet he's making me rethink my standards.

But that's a stupid thing to think. We're here to survive. Something I have to keep telling myself. I couldn't have gotten stuck on a different plane? You know… one with some more ugly people on it? "Cool. Where are you from?" I don't know why, but I regret it as soon as I ask it.

"South Dakota," he replied. I nodded. "What about you? Why do they call you Kit?" I wasn't expecting that.

"I…got made fun of a lot in school so I changed my name," I said it kind of sheepishly, as if he'd seen something he wasn't supposed to. Casey stood and tossed his bag on his back. "And no. I'm not telling you what it was." I smiled and then started walking back.

"Okay, then," Steven jumped up next to me, "what's your last name?"

"Jones." I replied.

"Kit Jones. You're right, that does sound better."

"You don't even know what it was."

"I don't need to," he said as Casey took the lead again. Casey looked back with an inappropriate look on his face. I scoffed and looked away. I know he's hitting on me, using all of his pick-up lines. But for some reason, I don't feel the need to hit him anymore. For some reason it feels good coming from him.


End file.
